USA: TOWN WHERE BLACK MAN WAS DRAGGED TO HIS DEATH BEHIND A VEHICLE IS QUIET IN RUN UP TO WHITE SUPREMACIST AND BLACK RADICAL RALLIES

Record ID: 639748

  • Title: USA: TOWN WHERE BLACK MAN WAS DRAGGED TO HIS DEATH BEHIND A VEHICLE IS QUIET IN RUN UP TO WHITE SUPREMACIST AND BLACK RADICAL RALLIES
  • Date: 27th June 1998
  • Summary: JASPER, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (JUNE 27, 1998)(RTV) 1. SLV SIGN SAYS "GONE FISHING" DESERTED STREETS/ SIGNS SAYING SHOPS CLOSED FOR THE DAY / SCU MAIN STREET SIGN ZOOM OUT EMPTY STREETS/ SHOPS (3 SHOTS) 0.36 2. SLV POLICE ON PATROL/ YELLOW RIBBONS TIED TO DOOR HANDLE (3 SHOTS) 1.04 3. SCU CLARENCE POWELL, PREACHER, SHREVPORT, LOUISIANA SAYING "WHAT HAPPENED TO MR. BYRD COULD VERY WELL HAVE HAPPENED TO ME AND IF YOU NOTICE, WHAT WE WERE JUST TALKING, VERY FEW PEOPLE AROUND HERE ARE ACTUALLY FROM JASPER AND MOST OF WHAT YOU SEE ARE PEOPLE COMING IN FROM OUTSIDE. THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT SHOWS US THAT EVEN THOUGH THE FOCAL POINT IS HERE TODAY, THIS IS REPRESENTATIVE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING ALL ACROSS AMERICA. THIS COULD HAVE A HAPPENED IN ANY TOWN, SMALL TOWN, BIG CITY, ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES." (ENGLISH) 1.37 4. MV POLICE ON PATROL 1.44 5. MV WOMEN WALKING IN DESERTED STREET 1.49 6. LV PEOPLE IN TOWN SQUARE 1.51 7. SCU MAN WITH DREADLOCKS AND HIS FACE PAINTED ZOOM OUT 2.09 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 12th July 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JASPER, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA36A1DU8H7VUBXIMVV0PZO641Y
  • Story Text: The east Texas town where a black man was dragged to his death, tied to the back of a truck, was quiet on Saturday morning ahead of rallies planned by white supremacists and black radicals.

    Downtown Jasper was deserted on Saturday (June 27), with residents shutting up shop and leaving town for the day rather than welcome the Klu Klux Klan and Black Panther activists.

    The town has become the latest example of America's ongoing race relations problem following the death of James Byrd, a black man who died after being dragged along a dirt road chained to the back of a motor vehicle.Three men, suspected of links to white supremacist groups have been charged with his murder.

    Ku Klux Klan groups planned to hold a rally on Saturday afternoon to distance themselves from the killing, but they say the gathering will also be a celebration of "white pride".

    The New Black Panther Party and black Moslem groups also planned to converge on Jasper, saying their aim was to protect local black residents.

    But most residents say they just want to be left in peace.

    Visiting preacher Clarence Powell felt sorry for the residents of Jasper and the unwelcome media attention, noting that the events are "representative of what is happening all across America." Local police, backed up by out-of-town officers and FBI agents, have sealed off roads leading into the downtown district, forcing people to walk in an attempt to keep the white supremacists and black activists apart.


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